Red Tractor is a not-for-profit company created by farmers and industry leaders in 2000. Together, they wanted to raise awareness of and increase consumer confidence in British farming produce.
At the time, the sector was in crisis following the BSE, Salmonella and Foot and Mouth outbreaks. An NFU survey also found that 7 out of 10 people had no idea what foods their local farmers produced
Over 20 years later, the Red Tractor logo on food and drink is recognised by consumers nationwide. It tells them these products are traceable, safe and farmed with care. British has become a byword for quality food, but that doesn’t mean our work is over.
Today, we continue to champion the British food business, linking farming, food production, processing and packing. Our industry now faces several challenges. These include Brexit, future trade deals and how this will affect import standards, the Agricultural Transition Plan and Covid-19.
That means we must redouble our efforts and maintain the very highest standards. Our producers and consumers expect – and deserve – nothing less than the best.
As a non-for-profit company we have six company guarantors: NFU, Dairy UK, Ulster Farmers’ Union, AHDB, BRC and NFU Scotland. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) also act as an observer.
Our team is passionate about the industry and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience across the food chain. Some members have been involved in farm assurance since its start in the 1990s.
Jim Moseley – Chief Executive
As CEO, Jim oversees Assured Food Standards and manages the team. He has a keen interest in working with regulatory and enforcement bodies.
Philippa Wiltshire – Head of Operations
Philippa handles industry, regulatory and stakeholder liaison around technical assurance and manages the six sector boards. She also oversees our IT strategy. This helps ensure Red Tractor Assurance data and electronic services meet the needs of RTA, members, and the wider industry.
Richard Cattell – Head of Marketing and Commercial
Richard manages the consumer marketing strategy to raise awareness and understanding of Red Tractor. He also oversees our commercial trade development. This aims to increase the number of licensees using the Red Tractor logo on products.
Rebecca Miller – Head of Communications
Rebecca is in charge of Red Tractor’s communication strategy for farmers, the industry and consumers. She ensures people understand the benefits of Red Tractor and our efforts to promote, protect and defend the work of its members. Rebecca also works closely with industry stakeholders, the press and government bodies.
Chris Ashford – Head of Finance & IT
Our board is made up of experts and academics from across the food industry. The board governs how Red Tractor is run and helps us develop standards that are well-informed and relevant today.
Jim Moseley – Chief Executive
Jim started out at FMC Meat Ltd, then Europe’s largest meat group. His next move was to Wander Foods, where he launched sports drink Isostar in the UK.
He later spent 12 years as Tulip’s Sales & Marketing Director, before becoming Managing Director of General Mills UK in 1999. There he handled brands like Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Green Giant and Nature Valley. In 2015, he joined Mizkan Euro Ltd.
Jim has chaired the Provision Trade Federation and was a Food Drink Europe board member. He’s also been both interim Director General and President of the Food & Drink Federation.
Christine Tacon – Chair
Christine joined us in December 2020 from leading the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), where she spent more than 7 years. She has worked across the food and retail sectors for over three decades.
Starting out as an engineer, she then moved into marketing positions at Mars Confectionery, Vodafone and Anchor (now Fonterra).
For 11 years until 2012, Christine led the Co-operative Group’s farming business. She turned around the £60m turnover business from a £6m loss in 2000 to a £6m profit by 2010.
Christine will remain chair of the BBC Rural Affairs Committee and fresh produce management training scheme MDS.
Alistair Mackintosh – Vice Chair
Alistair has a flock of 1,500 breeding ewes and a herd of 100 beef sucklers across 650 rented acres in Ravenglass, Cumbria. He is a strong supporter of Red Tractor and believes that a robust assurance scheme will give consumers confidence to buy British.
This is something he believes will become increasingly important for UK farming. He says farmers, stakeholders and trade associations must now work together to re-establish the core values of what the tractor stands for. Alistair believes this will ensure farmers don’t view farm assurance as a regulatory burden and instead see what it does for their businesses.
Tom Bradshaw – Industry Director
Tom is the NFU Deputy President. He farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex. Alongside a small owned farm they run a larger contract farming business growing a range of combinable crops across 950 hectares in North East Essex. The home farm is based around arable production but has also diversified into equestrian and renewables.
Tom has represented the NFU from Local Branch Chairman through to Chair of the National Combinable Crops Board. Tom also served as Vice President from February 2020 to February 2022.
Nicholas Saphir – Industry Director
Nicholas was appointed as chair of AHDB in April 2020. He has a wide background in agriculture and horticulture having built a public company, farming, processing, and trading fruit and vegetables in the UK, Europe, southern Africa, and South America. In recent decades, he’s helped the Organic Milk Producers’ Cooperative (Omsco) become the world’s second largest dedicated organic milk cooperative.
It now exports cheese, butter and infant formula grade milk powders to the USA, EU, and Australasia. He has an excellent record of chairing industry and government bodies in the sector. These include the Central Council for Agricultural and Horticultural Cooperation and Agricultural Forum. He was founder chair of Food from Britain and president of the Fresh Produce Consortium.
Nick Allen – Industry Director
Nick has a deep understanding of the British meat and livestock industries having previously worked in market development roles for the Meat and Livestock Commission, AHDB and the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX).
As CEO of the British Meat Processors Association he is able to pull together his connections from across farming, the meat industry, retail and government to forge a more collaborative approach to the UK’s food challenges.
As well as his role with BMPA, Nick also runs a farm in Hampshire.
Sophie Throup – Industry Director
Sophie represents the BRC and joined our board in June 2020. She has been with Wm Morrison plc since November 2017 and heads up Agriculture, Fisheries and Sustainable Sourcing.
Sophie started at ASDA before taking time out on the family farm to have children. She joined Bishopton Veterinary Group in 2009. There she developed and managed RAFT Solutions Ltd with her colleagues which delivers livestock research and training. She also helped set up the government funded agri-tech centre, CIEL (Centre of Innovation Excellence in Livestock). Sophie is part of the steering committee for the IGD generated FIIA (Food Industry Initiative for Antimicrobials).
John Pain – Independent Director
John joined our board in January 2020. He has a degree in Agricultural Economics from Newcastle University and an MBA from the University of Leicester.
John has worked with leading UK brands like Sainsbury’s, Nabisco, and Diageo, and joined KFC GB in 1994. He later became Marketing Director for Yum! and VP of Marketing at Taco Bell USA.
In 2007, John returned to the UK as Marketing Director of the Compass Group UK & Ireland business. He later became MD for the Wendy’s Company APEMEA region. John is Vice Chairman of KFC Philippines and Chair of Governing Council at the Royal Agricultural University.
Chris Goodwin – Independent Director
Chris is a Chartered Certified Accountant and joined our board in December 2016. He has held senior roles as a CFO and CEO in several industry sectors. Most recently, he was CFO of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and previously CEO of the NFU’s commercial subsidiary. He now works as a non-executive director and business adviser for various organisations across the public and private sectors.
Melissa Donald – Independent Director
Melissa qualified from Glasgow Vet School in 1987 and ran a mixed practice in North Ayrshire. She was later a partner in a hill farming business, running 1,200 ewes and 100 suckler cows. Now she just has a few sheep to keep the dogs busy.
Melissa is on the council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and Scottish Branch Senior Vice President of the British Veterinary Association. She joined our board in March 2017 as an independent director to stand for animal health and welfare.
Professor Guy Poppy – Independent Director
Professor Guy Poppy became the FSA’s Chief Scientific Adviser in 2014, he is also Professor of Food Security at Southampton University and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He has research experience in food systems and food security and has advised governments globally on these issues.
He has also published over 100 peer-reviewed papers including around risk assessment, risk analysis and risk communication. Guy is on the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) panel assessing the quality of agriculture, food and veterinary science in the UK. In June 2020, he became Programme Director for the SPF Food systems programme. In July 2022 he became Deputy Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
He is a graduate of Imperial College and Oxford University.
John Reed – Industry Director
John is Agricultural Director for Avara Foods Limited, a joint venture between Faccenda Foods Limited and Cargill. In his early career he worked in Commercial Layer Management and was Regional Agricultural Manager for Eastwood/Imperial Group/Hillsdown Holdings. In 1991, John became Agricultural Director for Moorland Foods. He joined Sun Valley Foods/Cargill as Agricultural Director in 1998.
His achievements include a Nuffield Farm Scholarship, Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and Chairman of the BPC. He joined our board in 2019. John has been involved in many Industry and Government Committees.
He co-founded the Red Tractor Assurance Poultry Board British Poultry Training and Poultry Health & Welfare Board.
John Dracup – Beef & Lamb Sector Director
John joined our board in March 2022. He has more than 30 years of experience as an advocate and leader in British agriculture and the food processing industry.
In addition to running a successful beef and lamb family farming business in Devon, he has experience in pioneering electronic auctions and managing one of the largest beef and lamb processors’ livestock divisions and continues to hold the position of strategy director for The Royal Smithfield Club.
Angela Rhodes – Dairy Sector Director
Angela studied agriculture at Seale Hayne and had a career as an agricultural journalist before working in the cattle breeding industry. For the last 16 years, she has been farming with her husband in South Warwickshire.
There they have a 330-cow autumn calving dairy herd on a 420-acre grass farm. She is also a Nuffield Scholar.
Lucy MacLennan – Fresh Produce Sector Director
Lucy MacLennan is a food industry consultant and has been a food technologist for over 20 years. She has helped improve the quality and safety of fresh produce for leading UK retailers like Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury’s. She has also worked extensively throughout their supply bases. Lucy is studying for a doctorate in agri-food at the University of Nottingham.
Her research is looking at the impact of private food standards on UK fresh produce supply chains. She has an MBA from Cranfield University and a BSc (Hons) in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Surrey.
Stewart Houston CBE, FRAgS – Pig Sector Director
Stewart has served as a non-exec member of the Food Standards Agency Board. He was also chair of the British Pig Executive and a member of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
In addition, he has been on the Scottish Agriculture College board and was Executive Director of the National Pig Association. He is today a non-exec member of Defra’s Animal Health and Welfare Board, England which advises ministers on policy. It is currently developing an Animal Health and Welfare Pathway.
Iain Gardner – Poultry Sector Director
After graduating from Edinburgh, Iain worked in the pig industry for five years before joining BOCM PAULS. He rose through the ranks and was part of the management buyout and later sale of the business to ForFarmers.
For the past 17 years, he has worked at Executive or Group Board level. After 30 years of working closely across the agricultural industry, he left his role as Chief Operating Officer in December 2017. In 2018, he became Chair of the BOCM PAULS defined benefit pension scheme.
Sector Boards
The Red Tractor Assurance Sector Boards are responsible for overseeing the management of the Sector Schemes and their activities. They are made up of experts and representatives from the sector (see list below). Each sector also has a Technical Advisory Committee responsible for the on-going maintenance and development of Red Tractor Assurance standards.
Our sector board members are listed below:
John Dracup – Chair
David Morgan – NFU
Harriet Wilson – BRC/Food Service
Chris Dodds – Livestock Auctioneers Association
Bryan Griffiths – National Sheep Association
Andrew Laughton – National Beef Association
Dean Holroyd – British Meat Processors Association
Henry Blain – Multiple Retailer
Natalie Smith – Multiple Retailer
Angela Rhodes – Chair
Peter Dawson – Dairy UK
Michael Masters – First Purchaser Representative
Ian Harvey – NFU
Rachel Hayton – British Cattle Veterinary Association
TBC – NFU Scotland
James Little – Dairy UK
Lucy Squire – Dairy UK
Steve Harris – Dairy UK
Natalie Smith – Multiple Retailer
Joseph Keating – BRC
Mervyn Gordon – UFU
Lee Truelove – Dairy UK
Neville Graham – Dairy UK NI
Paul Tompkins – NFU
Nic Parsons – AHDB
TBC – Chair
Angela Bowden – Oilseed Crushers
Olly Harrison – Cereals grower
James Cox – Cereals grower
Matthew Culley – Cereals grower
Julian South – MAGB
Patrick Mitton – Pesticide Issues Consultant
Brin Hughes – BOBMA
Penny Somervell – AIC/Grain Merchants
Peter Chandley – Weetabix
David Eudall – AHDB
Nick Morris – Sugar manufacturer
Alex Waugh – UK Flour Millers
Gill Barrow – AIC/Grain Merchants
Kit Papworth – Sugar beet grower
Nigel Davies – TAC Chair
Lucy MacLennan – Chair
Tim Casey – NFU
David Kennedy – Technical Consultant
Peter Illman – Retailer
Damon Johnson – BRC
Trudie Webster – NFU
Tim Papworth – NFU
Sarah Blanford – Retailer
Rob Clayton – AHDB Potatoes
Stephen Shields – Produce Marketing/Processing
James Lee – Technical Consultant
Veryan Bliss – Technical Consultant
Kelly Shields – Fresh Produce Consortium
Stewart Houston – Chair
William de Klein – Processor
Mark Haighton – Processor
Ash Gilman – Processor
Pig Producer Reps (indoor and outdoor) – x4 (including 1 x NPA Rep)
Natalie Smith – Retailer
Caroline Mason – BRC
Angela Christison – AHDB Pork
Gemma Thwaites – Pig Veterinary Society
Will Haresign – TAC Chair
Iain Gardner – Chair
Clay Burrows – QBT
TBC – NFU
Geoffrey Buchanan – DAS
Philip Wilkinson OBE – BPC
David Neilson – Integrator
Tom Meeson – British Retail Consortium
Dr Martin Shirley CBE – Independent
John Kirkpatrick – Retailer
David Gibson – BPC
Jonty Hay – NFU
Judith Irons – Food Service Sector
Technical Advisory Committees (TACs)
Each Red Tractor Assurance sector has its own Technical Advisory Committee. TACs use their ability and experience to make recommendations to the sector board and help develop our standards. They also work to deliver the technical strategy and shape our vision and purpose. TAC members include farmers, retailers, NFU/AHDB representatives and other industry experts.
TACs are responsible for:
Our sector TAC members are listed below:
David Morgan – Chair
Bryan Griffiths – NSA
Alastair Sneddon – Auctioneer
Henry Blain – Multiple Retailer
Richard Findlay – NFU
John Royle – NFU
Will Case – Farmer
Derek Armstrong – Livestock Haulage
Phil Stocker – NSA
Laura Talbot – Multiple Retailer
Sarah Pick – AHDB
Neil Shand – NBA
Sarah Haire – Meat Processing
Jenny Hull – British Cattle Veterinary Association
Lucy Squire – Chair
Angela Rhodes – Sector Board Chair
Joseph Keating – Multiple Retailer
Gemma Smale-Rowland – Farmer
Lee Truelove – Dairy UK
Stuart Martin – NFU Staff Member Representative (Scotland)
Alice Miller/Sarah Hampson – British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA)
Emily Coughlan – RSPCA
Phoebe Russell – NFU Staff Member Representative
Jenny Gibbons – AHDB Dairy
Mike Gorton – Farmer
Ian Critchley – Processor
Cyril Orr – UFU
Nigel Davies – Chair
Angela Bowden – SCOPA
Brin Hughes – BOBMA
Dhan Bhandari – AHDB
Gill Barrow – AIC/Grain Merchants
Anthony Hopkins – NFU
James Croskell – ACFM
Joe Brennan – UK Flour Millers
Kit Papworth – Sugar beet grower
Nick Morris – British Sugar
Olly Harrison – NFU Crops
Penny Somervell – AIC Merchants
Peter Gadd – NFU Crops
Guy Smith – Sector Board Chair
David Kennedy – Chair
Lucy MacLennan – Sector Board Chair
Clive Baxter – Top fruit production
Grace Choto – AHDB
Emma Burke – Grower
Andrew Curtis – Potato Processors Association
Rupert Weaver – NFU
Charlotte Curtis – Independent consultant
John Worth – Retailer
Jan Redpath – NFU Scotland
Patrick Mitton – Independent Pesticides Consultant
Andy Alexander – NFU
Gavin Gill – Retail supplier of vegetables
Tom Meeson – Retailer
Chris Mattinson – Retailer
Paul Goddard – Crop Protection Association
Prof Will Haresign – Chair
Stewart Houston – Sector Board Chair
Mark Harding – Building Manufacturer
Stephen Waite – Producer/Breeding Company
Jane Matthews – British Pig Association
Heidi Dekker – Producer/Integrator
Chris Leamon – Producer
Lorraine Salmon – Feed Representative
Annie Davis – Pig Veterinary Society
Claire Barber – AHDB Pork
Zoe Davis – National Pig Association
Martin Barker – Feed Representative
Prof Sandra Edwards – Independent Welfare Advisor
Jonathan Green – Producer
Phil Woodall – Marketing group
Ursula O’Neill – Processor / Integrator
Harriet Heap – Retailer
Jess MacKintosh – Producer / Integrator
Ellie Wotherspoon – Retailer
Kyle Boyd – Producer/UFU Rep
Dr Martin Shirley CBE – Chair
Steve Dart – Integrator
James Hook – Hatchery Representative
Mark Foster – NFU
Sue McCabe – Free Range
Muhammed Maliki – Integrator Representative and N Ireland
Andrew McKenzie – Breeder Representative
Nick Davies – Processor
Mark Kempsell – Retailer
Adekunle Adebiyi – Feed Representative
Dr Martin Shirley CBE – Chair
Tim Burnside – Breeder Representative
Linda Kirby – Processor
Sam Jones – Breeder Representative
Tracey Jones – CIWF
Maire Burnett – BPC
Martin Newman – Free Range
Stuart Beaumont – Hatchery
Evelyn Edwards – Integrator
Chris Siddall – Integrator
Dr Martin Shirley CBE – Chair
Andrew Jackson – Independent
Maire Burnett – BPC
Steph Charlton – Integrator
Emily Hall – Breeder representative
Tracey Jones – CIWF